I’ve been seeing a lot of music graphics in the style of a retro film poster and wanted to try it out for myself. I figured I needed to diversify my range of aesthetics to work with a wider variety of brands. I decided to make a poster based on a song called “Grapejuice” from Harry Style’s recent album “Harry’s House”. I had never tried this aesthetic before, so I started by researching on Pinterest and compiling a mood board. I looked at different types of posters in this aesthetic, ranging from classic retro (left) to a more graphic, modern retro style (right). 

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A common trait in this style is a dramatic script and vintage texture, so I first started with the main chorus in a script font. I wanted the focus to be on the phrase “The Grapejuice Blues” , as it was the main tagline of the song. The poster needed more visual elements, so I put in some star shapes. It still felt pretty empty, so I added circles to that and put in the rest of the elements. For a finishing touch, I added a grain and paper texture for a more retro feel.

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For the background, the most obvious choice was something related to wine because of grape juice's relation to wine. Following the song's vibe, I wanted the poster to be romantic, summery, and easygoing, like a casual date. The backgrounds I chose are meant to look like snapshots of someone’s date and have a sort of movie feel. 

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Final Outcome

I like the overall result, and it was a lot easier than I thought it would be to achieve. I think the design process was much faster because I took the time to identify the key traits. Usually, my design process takes longer because I tend to dive straight into it and figure it out as I go along. However, because I was unsure how to approach this aesthetic, I spent more time trying to figure out the key elements of that style. I’m surprised to have learned such a simple lesson from this project, but I think it’s a significant one nonetheless; taking the time to understand the aesthetic will make my design workflow much more efficient.